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“Golden Boy” 10 p.m., CBS Let's subtitle this new drama “How I Met Your Police Commissioner.” The series uses a framework set seven years in the future, with New York's youngest police commissioner recalling the events that brought him to the top.

It's a storytelling mistake that serves no purpose other than to spoil some of the drama to come. But it's not enough of a mistake to ruin an otherwise solid show, one that is surprisingly complex for CBS.

Theo James stars as the golden boy of the title, Walter Clark Jr., a heroic street cop promoted to homicide detective at 27. The elevation plunges him into a nasty political world full of backstabbing and one-upmanship. It's a departure from the typical network police procedural, where the hero is always ethically invincible. Clark lives in a very gray world, where his coworkers are dedicated to solving murders and making each other look bad.

The story of Clark's journey from ambitious naïf to sophisticated politician looks like it will be fun to watch – provided “Golden Boy” doesn't spoil itself too badly.

“Cougar Town” 10 p.m., TBS Here's a show that has made a nice transition from broadcast to cable, taking some advantage of the opportunity to be more adult without changing the essence of the show. Not a great comedy, but an amusing one.

SKIP THAT

“Robot Combat League” 10 p.m. Syfy Fans of the late lamented “BattleBots” will no doubt be attracted to this new series – and will no doubt be disappointed. Twelve two-person teams control giant robots in combat, but they don't design or build the robots, and the machines don't do anything other than swing their arms like a giant Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. Two local people are featured – industrial designer Diana Yang of Irvine and robotics expert Kyle Samuelson of Los Alamitos – but their talents are wasted here.

“Celebrity Wife Swap” 8 p.m. ABC A better title for this series might be “Fix My Career,” as it features “celebrities” that we either used to care about or never really did hoping to elevate themselves from the D list. The actual household swapping is ridiculously staged and unconvincing. The wishful thinkers tonight: Kate Gosselin and Kendra Wilkinson Baskett.

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